Announcing 14 pitches

Wednesday, August 29, 2018 |

Brian Halaas, Director of Conference Programming

Hand to Hand. Photo courtesy of Squonk.

Arts Midwest is pleased to announce the fourteen participants in two separate pitch sessions during the Arts Midwest Conference. Project Pitches for the Courageous is designed to offer a more in-depth understanding of the selected projects with time for discussion, and 3 Minutes, 2 Risers, 1 Mic is fast-paced and creative with an intentionally open-ended selection criteria.

Project Pitches for the Courageous

Keynote speaker Ashley C. Ford says courage requires vulnerability and empathy. This session highlights a collection of projects designed for audiences and organizations that are open to being courageous. Projects may have challenging content or specialized technical requirements. They may be politically charged or require some out-of-the-box planning. The project may be discipline specific or multi-disciplinary and may include site-specific work designed for non-traditional performing arts venues.

Theatre RE: The Nature of Forgetting

At the intersection of art and science, THENATURE OF FORGETTING bursts with creativity, joy, and heartache. Collaborating with neuroscientist Dr. Kate Jeffery, Theatre Re created a moving articulation of what’s left behind as memories are lost. Based in London, Theatre Re produces tangible and poignant work. Their productions examine the fragility of life in a captivating style embracing physical theatre and live music. TNOF was a huge success at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2017. | Presented by Marc Baylin, Baylin Artists Management, Doylestown, PA

Amarillo – Teatro Linea de Sombra

A man departs for the US-Mexican Border and vanishes before reaching his destination, Amarillo Texas. Through stunning project images, bi-lingual monologues and a sea of displaced objects this renowned company reconstructs his journey in a multi-media performance that travels imagined landscapes of both geography and cultural identity. Amarillo touches on the complex nature of individual and national identity in a time of exodus – both for those who leave and those who are left behind. | Presented by Lynn Fisher, Frontera Arts, Austin, TX

Created by Montreal company Rhodnie Désir Créations, BOW’T TRAIL-retrospek is a choreographic-documentary work and digital experience that combines the dancer’s rhythmic and movement explorations, inherited from the slave trade in the Americas. This authentic and innovative new work for one dancer and three musicians is based on studies conducted onsite in Martinique, Brazil, Haiti, Canada, Mexico and United States since 2015. The premiere is planned in 2019-2020. The project is looking for co-producers. | Presented by Valerie Cusson, Cusson Management, Saint-Jérôme, Québec, Canada

MADCO. Photo by David Lancaster.

FUNKEDIFIED

Rennie Harris Puremovement has a new and exciting work “exploring funk music as the foundation of hip hop and as a force in his creative life. Dr. Harris, who grew up in Philadelphia, credits Don Campbell- as seen on “Soul Train” in the early 1970s – with piquing his interest in dance as a child….FUNKEDIFIED cults from styles including locking, popping, breaking and ’70s social dances…” New York Times. Rennie Harris Puremovement’s multi-media production, set against a video montage of African American communities in the 1970s, also stars fellow Philadelphia crew The Hood lockers, recognized as one of the most seminal locking groups since Don Campbell and The Campbell Lock Dancers. A live funk band of 6 musicians performs onstage alongside 12 of the best hip hop dancers in this groundbreaking, high energy masterpiece. | Presented by Jodi Kaplan / Booking Dance, New York, NY

Dökk: a body in space, impacted by technology

Dökk is a multimedia performance created by the Italian digital art studio, fuse*, featuring a live performer inside of a 3D light installation. The lighting design is impacted by the performer’s movement and by software that synthesizes data collected in real time, during the show. One-hour in length, Dökk evokes the random, unforeseeable experience that is life itself. It looks at the circle of life as a search for the balance between light and darkness. | Presented by Laura Colby, President, Elsie Management, Brooklyn, NY

Video Phase : Immersive Digital Percussion

Video Phase creates a synesthesia between the musical and visual, immersing the audience in a stunning digital universe. Live percussion interacting in real time with responsive visual elements creates a multi-sensory experience, while giving the two musicians total freedom to improvise. Strongly influenced by Steve Reich as well as electronic music, Video Phase preserves the magic of live performance while a visual landscape unfolds before the audience. The result is awe-inspiring and thrillingly original. | Presented by Barbara Scales, Latitude 45 Arts, Montreal, Québec, Canada

Pitch Session: 3 Minutes, 2 Risers, 1 Mic

In a perfect world, what’s a project you’d like to do five years from now? Hear eight randomly selected ideas, from new work to community projects. In a new format for attendees to increase their visibility at the Conference, eight projects were randomly selected from a pool of proposals. Everyone’s welcome to come hear ideas from across the entire field.

Flying with Sally Ride: America’s First Woman in Space

A solo play based on the life, ideas, and experience of female icon, astrophysicist and astronaut Sally Ride. A dramatic work exploring the wonders of space, Earth, and our universe; a solo performer enacting all roles in an interactive and engaging performance. The second in a trilogy of solo plays on women in science for a wide range of ages and cultures; for touring to theatres, festivals, universities, schools, conferences, science centers and museums worldwide. | Presented by Heather Massie, HEDY! The Life & Inventions of Hedy Lamarr, New York, NY

MADCO: The UNITY Movement

MADCO is uniting communities through dance using the sheer power of collaboration and research! According to Forbes Magazine, St. Louis is one of the most segregated cities in the country. In partnership with the Taylor Community Consulting team from Washington University, we’ve discovered what the people of St. Louis care about the most – no matter where their differences. Inspired by these findings, MADCO collaborates with local groups to provide FREE community performances across St. Louis. | Presented by Emilee Morton, MADCO (Modern American Dance Company), St. Louis, MO; and Nicole Whitesell, MADCO (Modern American Dance Company), St. Louis, MO

Bach & Bleach – A Case of Comic Audience Conversion

A musical theater production with musicians, a choir, a violist, and a cleaning lady accidentally on stage. Mopping the floor was never so much fun. The closing choir of garbage collectors is a stroke of genius. It’s an ode to the power of the imagination and the emotional power of music as the music opens up the cleaning lady’s imagination, and the music shows her that she has more to her than she thinks. | Presented by Manuel Prestamo, PMI: Performance Management International, Miami, FL

Video Phase. Photo by Emmanuel Crombez.

Hand to Hand

Squonk’s next outdoor event will be propelled by 25 foot hands, metaphors for how small we are. And what we do. With the visible rigging of a sailing ship, these huge articulated hands will greedily take ownership of a tower of music, building a consensus, then shattering to raucous discordance. Uniting people in festive public settings, our show will end with the rigging offered to the audience, each powering a larger movement. Hand to hand. | Presented by Steve O’Hearn, SQUONK, Pittsburgh, PA

GrueJarm “SNAP”

SNAP is a contemporary mystery performance combining moments of classic comedy theatre with magic and illusion. The performance transcends from reality to fantasy creating a dreamlike impression in a surreal world. This enormously entertaining and very creative show boasts a cast of seven of Korea’s greatest illusion artists who have won all round victories from the world’s most prestigious magic championships in an enchanting, engaging and hilarious show. USA debut! NYC.. May 2019 @ The New Victory Theatre! | Presented by Robin Klinger, Robin Klinger Entertainment LLC, Great Neck, NY

Amarillo – Teatro Linea de Sombra. Photo courtesy of Frontera Arts.

Donald Trump is My Muse: The Show

Donald Trump is both everywhere and taboo, both challenging and exhausting. Fiddling Poet, Ken Waldman’s response has been to write sonnets. Ridgeway Press of Michigan has already published three full-length Trump Sonnets collections, and Waldman has written an essay, “Donald Trump is My Muse,” which he has developed for the stage. This smart, funny, timely show can include accompanists. Early response has compared the production to an evening with Mark Russell or The Capitol Steps. | Presented by Ken Waldman, Ken Waldman, Nomadic Productions, Anchorage, AK; and Willi Carlisle, Breaker/Fixer Productions, Fayetteville, AR

The saving of 669 children

“669” a story of an amazing man Sir Nicholas Winton who organized a rescue mission for 669 children of Jewish families who were at risk from the Nazis in occupied Czechoslovakia. “669” demonstrates the wide array of human experiences from the crushing hatred of bigotry to the purest compassion of the human soul. The piece was created with original music by, Liliya Danieva from Moscow, Russia and choreography by SHARP’s Artistic Director Diane Sharp-Nachsin. | Presented by Diane Sharp-Nachsin, SHARP Dance Company, Philadelphia PA

More Than Tricks

Daniel Martin is an award winning celebrity magician fusing an innovative blend of psychological illusions, sleight of hand & multimedia into a one of a kind experience that is more than cheesy magic boxes and card tricks. He will share some of his best practices he’s learned that make him a crowd favorite. | Presented by Michele Filip, Daniel Martin Magic, Jackson, MI